This invention relates generally to dilution refrigerators, and more particularly to a continuously operating, .sup.3 He--.sup.4 He dilution refrigerator well adapted for use in space flight environment.
There is need for coolers that can operate at subkelvin ranges, in space. While .sup.3 He--.sup.4 He dilution refrigerators are usually preferred over adiabatic demagnetization refrigerators to reach temperatures from about 0.8 K down to several millikelvin in terrestrial laboratories, conventional dilution refrigerators of this type depend on gravity for their operation, and are thus not well adapted for use in space.